Animal encounters

Dangerous animal of the month—Brazilian wandering spider

Animal encounters

While researching this month’s dangerous animal, we learned two things: first, spiders make humans hysterical; and second, spiders are woefully misunderstood. Apparently most of our fears about spiders are myths, from “the average person swallows four spiders per year in her sleep,” to “My neighbor was bitten by a brown recluse and his leg nearly [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—black mamba

Animal encounters

Many poisonous snakes are shy and retiring, only baring their fangs when they feel cornered. The huge (up to 14 feet) black mamba is considered the crème de la crème of venomous snakes because not only does it have a deadly bite, it’s also extremely aggressive and will chase any person or animal that it [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—komodo dragon

Animal encounters

It may not be able to breathe fire, but in every other respect the komodo dragon lives up to its fearsome name. Growing up to 10 feet long and tipping the scales at up to 300 pounds, the komodo dragon lives in splendid isolation on a handful of Indonesian islands. It will eat just about [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—leopard seal

Animal encounters

Of all the seals in the world, Antarctica’s leopard seals are known as the fiercest. A spotted coat isn’t the only similarity between leopard seals and their feline namesakes. At more than 10 feet long and nearly 1,000 pounds, with sinuous bodies and snakelike heads, leopard seals are efficient and fearsome predators. They patrol the [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—hippopotamus

Animal encounters

Though it has a placid and goofy-looking demeanor, the hippo is actually one of the planet’s grumpiest creatures. In Africa, hippos are as feared as crocodiles, and for good reason. Despite their rotund cuteness and adorable teddy-bear-like ears, startled hippos are quickly enraged. They can easily outrun a human being; they capsize boats and maul [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—cassowary

Animal encounters

The southern cassowary makes its home in Northern Australia and is both the world’s third-largest bird (after the ostrich and the emu), and the world’s most dangerous bird. What makes it so fearsome? A zookeeper friend of ours explained that the benign-looking cassowary can run up to 30 miles per hour and has long legs [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month

Animal encounters

We’re kicking off our “Dangerous Animal of the Month” series with the gold standard of scary animals: the great white shark. Even though we understand that this fish is a key part of the oceanic food chain and is horribly misunderstood, it’s still, well, a monster. And despite the fact that great whites pass up [...]

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